| term_start11 = 4 March 2018{{Cite news|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/first-session-of-house-of-representatives-concluded/|title=First meeting of House of Representatives concluded|date=2018-03-05|work=The Himalayan Times|access-date=2018-03-15|language=en-US}}

| term_end11 = 18 September 2022

| predecessor11 = Ashok Kumar Mandal

| successor11 = Chandra Kant Raut

| constituency11 = Saptari 2

| office12 = {{nowrap|Member of Constituent Assembly}}

| term_start12 = 28 May 2008

| term_end12 = 14 October 2017

| constituency12 = Sunsari 5

| predecessor12 = Girija Prasad Koirala

| successor12 = Consuituency abolished

| birth_name = Upendra Yadav

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|1|8|df=y}}

| birth_place = Bhagawatpur, Saptari, Nepal

| death_date =

| death_place =

| father = Dhani Lal Yadav

| mother = Phudani Devi Yadav

| party = PSP-N {{small|(2020–present)}}

| otherparty = CPN (UML) {{small|(1991–1999)}}
CPN (Maoist) {{small|(1999–2005)}}
MJF-N {{small|(2006–2015)}}
FSF-N {{small|(2015–2019)}}
Samajbadi {{small|(2019–2020)}}

| spouse = Parbati Yadav

| children = Amrendra Yadav and 1 daughter

| residence = Biratnagar, Morang

| website =

}}

Upendra Yadav ({{Langx|ne| उपेन्द्र यादव}}; born 12 November 1960) is a Nepalese politician who has twice served as Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and also as the chairman of the People's Socialist Party, Nepal from 2020 until 2023.{{Cite web |date=2015-06-15 |title=Upendra Yadav, Ashok Rai announce unity, form FSF-N |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/upendra-yadav-ashok-rai-announce-unity-form-fsf-n/ |access-date=2017-12-09 |website=The Himalayan Times |language=en-US}}

He was previously a Minister of Health and Population. {{Cite web |last=कर्ण |first=खगेन्द्र |date=2021-05-24 |title=मधेसवाद कि अवसरवाद?‍ |trans-title=Madhesh-ist or Opportunist? |url=https://ekagaj.com/article/thought/14936/?v=1 |access-date=2022-01-16 |website=eKagaj |language=ne}}{{Cite web |title=Nepali prime minister expands cabinet for fourth time |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-06/01/c_137223860.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908164346/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-06/01/c_137223860.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 8, 2018 |access-date=2018-06-02 |website=Xinhua}} He also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Dahal cabinet from 2008 to 2009 and in the Khanal cabinet in 2011.{{Cite web |date=2008-11-20 |title=Ministers of Democratic Federal Republic of Nepal |url=http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/ministers_republic_nepal.php |access-date=2022-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120225401/http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/ministers_republic_nepal.php |archive-date=2008-11-20 }}{{Cite web |date=2011-05-05 |title=Upendra Yadav becomes new Nepal DPM and Foreign Minister {{!}} Asia News |url=https://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/upendra-yadav-becomes-new-nepal-dpm-and-foreign-minister_704207.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Zee News |language=en}} Yadav lost an election in 2022, being defeated by Janamat Party chair CK Raut in Saptari 2 with a margin of 18,000 votes.{{Cite web |title=CK Raut elected as HoR member from Saptari-2 |url=https://kathmandupost.com/politics/2022/11/23/ck-raut-elected-as-hor-member-from-saptari-2 |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=kathmandupost.com |language=English}}{{Cite web |last=Ghimire |first=Santosh |date=2022-11-28 |title=The fall of Upendra Yadav in Nepal's politics |url=https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/the-fall-of-upendra-yadav-in-nepals-politics-77213.html |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Indianarrative |language=en}}

Early life and education

Yadav was born in Bhagwatpur, Saptari to Dhanilal Yadav and Phudani Devi Yadav on 12 November 1960.{{cn|date=January 2023}} He grew up in Madhuwan and completed his SLC examinations there in 1975. He completed his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Hattisar College in Dharan and his master's degree in law at Mahendra Morang Adarsh Multiple Campus in Biratnagar.{{Cite news |last1=Wagle |first1=Dinesh |last2=Mishra |first2=Atul |date=2011-09-03 |title=उपेन्द्र यादव उवाच |language=ne |trans-title=Upendra Yadav Said |work=Kantipur |url=https://wagle.com.np/2011/09/03/%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0-%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%B5-%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9A/amp/}}{{Cite book |url=https://hr.parliament.gov.np/uploads/attachments/z3qljvte6vwen2cy.pdf |title=संघीय संसद सदस्य, २०७४ परिचयात्मक पुस्तिका |publisher=Federal Parliament Secretariat |year=2021 |location=Nepal |pages=270 |language=ne |trans-title=Federal Parliament Members 2017 Introduction Booklet}}

Political career

Yadav was involved in protests against the panchayat system as far back as 1975. He was involved in the 1979 student protests and was arrested in Biratnagar and was imprisoned for fourth months.{{Cite journal |last=Sarkar |first=Sarbary Dey |date=June 2018 |title=Madheshi Movement and Upendra Yadav |url=http://www.journaledudev.in/journal/Vol-8%20June%202018.pdf#page=316 |journal=Journal of Education and Development |volume=8 |issue=15 |pages=305–312}} He was also arrested in 1985 at Kathmandu and imprisoned for a year for participating in a Satyagraha organized by Nepali Congress. Yadav joined the CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) in 1991 and contested for the House of Representatives from Sunsari 4 in the same year. He gained 8,672 votes but finished a distant second. He served as the district leader of Sunsari and Morang district during his time in the party. He resigned from the party in 1997.

= Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum: 1997–2015 =

He founded the Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum in the mid-1990s along with Nepali Congress leader Jay Prakash Gupta as a non-governmental organization that advocated for Madheshi rights.{{Cite journal |last=Basnet |first=Chudamani |date=2019-11-30 |title=The Federal Socialist Forum: Incipient Middle Caste Politics in Nepal? |journal=Studies in Nepali History and Society |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=355}} After leaving CPN (UML) Yadav had become an alternate central committee member of CPN (Maoist). In February 2004 Yadav was arrested in New Delhi along with Maoist party members Matrika Yadav and Mohan Baidya. He was released after two months while the others were handed over to Nepalese authorities in 2006.{{Cite web |last=Aryal |first=Mallika |title=The rise of a party |url=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13537 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Nepali Times}}

== Madhesh movement ==

He was again arrested on 16 January 2007 in Kathmandu along with MP Amaresh Kumar Singh and a dozen others after they burned copies of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 after it did not address the issue of federalism and greater political representation from the Terai in the parliament and the constituent assembly.{{Cite book |title=Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal |last=Jha |first=Prashant |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9781849044592 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2007-02-09 |title=Over two dozen MPRF activists arrested in the capital |url=http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2007/jan/jan16/news11.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209103328/http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2007/jan/jan16/news11.php |archive-date=2007-02-09 |access-date=2020-12-28}} Following mass protests and indefinite strikes in the Terai region organized by his party, the government agreed to amend the interim constitution and on 12 April 2007, Nepal turned into a federal republic.{{Cite journal |last=Chamlagai |first=Abi |date=2021 |title=Nepal: Tarai/madhesh movements and political elites |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0021909620954881 |journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=949–963 |doi=10.1177/0021909620954881 |s2cid=225194374 |via=Sage Journals|url-access=subscription }}

== Constituent Assembly ==

He registered the organization as a political party on 26 April 2007 to contest the constituent assembly elections.{{cite web |date=2007-04-26 |title=MJF is now a political party |url=http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2007/apr/apr26/news12.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430002447/http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2007/apr/apr26/news12.php |archive-date=2007-04-30 |access-date=2008-09-06 |publisher=Nepalnews.com}} He was elected to the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly from Sunsari 5 at the 2008 elections. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in a coalition government with the CPN (Maoist) from August 2008 to May 2009 and again in a coalition government with CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) in 2011. After Bijay Kumar Gachhadar split away from the party to form Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum (Loktantrik), Yadav served as the parliamentary party leader of the MJF. He was also a member of the State Affairs Committee of the Constituent Assembly.{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=संसदीय विवरण पुस्तिका, संविधान सभा व्यवस्थापिका-संसद (२०६५ - २०६९) |trans-title=Parliamentary Manual, Constituent Assembly Legislature Parliament (2008 - 2012) |url=https://hr.parliament.gov.np/uploads/attachments/ydgitel3atlerfln.pdf |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=House of Representatives, Nepal |language=ne}} He retained his seat in the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly from Sunsari 5 at the 2013 elections. He served as the parliamentary party leader of MJF and also served as a member of the Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee.{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=संविधान सभा दर्पण - २ (२०७० - २०७२) |trans-title=Constituent Assembly Mirror - 2 (2013 - 2015) |url=https://hr.parliament.gov.np/uploads/attachments/kz2nnrozsjpu7uw4.pdf |website=House of Representatives, Nepal |language=ne}}

= National politics: since 2015 =

On 15 June 2015, his party merged with Federal Socialist Party and Khas Samabesi Party to form the Federal Socialist Forum. He served as co-chairman of the new party along with Rajendra Prasad Shrestha. He contested the 2017 elections to the House of Representatives from Saptari 2 and was elected.{{Cite web |last1=भण्डारी |first1=अखण्ड |last2=झा |first2=अबधेश |date=2017-11-05 |title=किन सरे उपेन्द्र यादव सप्तरी? |trans-title=Why did Upendra Yadav move to Saptari? |url=https://ekantipur.com/ampnews/2017-11-05/20171105062817.html |access-date=2022-01-16 |website=Ekantipur |language=ne}}{{Cite web |title=Upendra Yadav wins parliamentary seat from Saptari-2 |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/upendra-yadav-wins-parliamentary-seat-saptari-2/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Himalayan Times|date=9 December 2017 }} He was a member of the Education and Health Committee of the House of Representatives.{{Cite web |title=शिक्षा तथा स्वास्थ्य समिति |url=https://hr.parliament.gov.np/np/committees/Education-and-Health-Committee/members |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=House of Representatives, Nepal}} He served as the Deputy Prime Minister in a coalition government with the Nepal Communist Party from June 2018 to December 2019. His party merged with the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal in 2020 to form the People's Socialist Party.{{Cite web |title=Two key Madhesi parties in Nepal merge to form Janata Samajwadi Party |url=https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2020/04/23/fgn48-nepal-madhesi-party.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Week |language=en}} He served as co-chairman of the party with Mahantha Thakur until Thakur split off to form the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal.{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-08-19 |title=Madhav Kumar Nepal, Mahantha Thakur register new parties; commission's approval likely in 2 weeks |url=https://english.onlinekhabar.com/madhav-kumar-nepal-mahantha-thakur-register-new-parties.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Onlinekhabar |language=en-GB}} Yadav contested the 2022 elections to the House of Representatives from Saptari 2 again but lost to Janamat Party chairman Chandra Kant Raut by a margin of over 18,000 votes.{{Cite web |title=CK Raut wins Saptari-2 beating Upendra Yadav by 18k+ votes |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/135-election-employees-await-rescue-in-upper-dolpa |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=thehimalayantimes.com|date=23 November 2022 }}

Criticism

Yadav has been accused of being linked to Hindu extremist groups and in December 2006 publicly supported the notion of Nepal as a Hindu nation at a program of right-wing Hindu groups in Gorakhpur, India. A month after the incident, he was leading the protests in support of turning Nepal into a secular federal republic.

He has also been accused of focusing on Yadavs instead of the greater Madheshi community. He was criticized by some for supporting Nepali Congress candidate Ram Baran Yadav instead of CPN (Maoist) candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh.

Yadav had been criticized for the Gaur incident where dozens of CPN (Maoist) cadres were left dead following violent clashes with cadres of Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum. Yadav was supposed to address a mass meeting of MJFN supporters in Gaur, Rautahat, the Madhesh Mukti Morcha of CPN (Maoist) were also holding their rally at the same venue. MJF and Maoist supporters were engaged in clashes during the Madhesh movement and the Gaur incident was seen as retaliation for these clashes.{{Cite news |last=Sharma |first=Gopal |date=2007-03-21 |title=Curfew in Nepal town after 25 killed in clash |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSP65941 |access-date=2020-12-28}}{{Cite web |date=2008-07-09 |title=Ominous Trend, Despite Maoists joining the mainstream, the politics of violence continues to grip the country |url=http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/2007/englishweekly/spotlight/mar/mar30/national.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709000835/http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/2007/englishweekly/spotlight/mar/mar30/national.php |archive-date=2008-07-09 |access-date=2020-12-28 |website=Nepal News}}{{Cite web |last=Jha |first=Prashant |title=Underestimating Upendra |url=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15204 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Nepali Times}}

Once a major activist for Madheshi people, Yadav has been criticized for forgetting Madhesh-centric issues as he became more active in national politics.{{Cite web |last=बगाले |first=सन्जिब |date=2017-06-15 |title=उपेन्द्र यादवको 'यु-टर्न'को कारण |trans-title=The reason for Upendra Yadav's U-Turn |url=https://www.setopati.com/new-news/49121/ |access-date=2022-01-16 |website=Setopati |language=ne}}

Personal life

Yadav is married to Parbati Yadav with whom he has two children, a son and a daughter. His son, Amarendra Yadav, contested the 2022 local elections for the deputy mayor of Biratnagar but lost.{{Cite web |date=2022-04-25 |title=Coalition files nomination of Koirala for Biratnagar Mayor, Yadav for Deputy Mayor |url=https://risingnepaldaily.com/news/10438 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Rising Nepal}}{{Cite web |last=रिमाल |first=कमल |date=2022-05-20 |title=उपमेयरमा उपेन्द्र यादवका छोरा अमरेन्द्रको पराजय निश्चित |trans-title=Defeat of Upendra Yadav's son Amarendra as deputy mayor is certain |url=https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/130092 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Himal Khabar |language=ne}}

Electoral history

class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" \|Year ! rowspan="2" \|Office ! rowspan="2" \|Electorate ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" \|Party ! rowspan="2" \|Main opponent ! colspan="2" \|Votes for Yadav ! rowspan="2" \|Result ! rowspan="2" \|Notes
Total !{{abbr\|2=Position\|P}}.
1991 \|Representative \|Sunsari 4 \| style="background-color:{{party color\|Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}};" \| \|CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) \|Khalil Miya \|8,672 \|2nd \|{{no2\|Lost}} \|
rowspan="2" \|2008 \| rowspan="2" \|Constituent \|Sunsari 5 \| rowspan="2" style="background-color:orangered;" \| \| rowspan="2" \|Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum, Nepal \|Mohammad Mahfuz Ansari \|23,939 \|1st \|{{yes2\|Won}} \|
Morang 5 \|Amrit Kumar Aryal \|27,508 \|1st \|{{yes2\|Won}} \|Vacated
rowspan="2" \|2013 \| rowspan="2" \|Constituent \|Sunsari 5 \| rowspan="2" style="background-color:orangered;" \| \| rowspan="2" \|Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum, Nepal \|Gafar Ansari Miya \|7,264 \|1st \|{{yes2\|Won}} \|
Morang 5 \|Amrit Kumar Aryal \|12,566 \|2nd \|{{no2\|Lost}} \|
2017 \|Representative \|Saptari 2 \|bgcolor="{{party color\|Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal}}"\| \|Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal \|Umesh Kumar Yadav \|21,620 \|1st \|{{yes2\|Won}} \|
2022 \|Representative \|Saptari 2 \|bgcolor="{{party color\|People's Socialist Party, Nepal}}"\| \|People's Socialist Party, Nepal \|Chandra Kant Raut \|16,979 \|2nd \|{{no2\|Lost}} \|
2023 \|Representative \|Bara 2 \| bgcolor="{{party color\|People's Socialist Party, Nepal}}" \| \|People's Socialist Party, Nepal \|Shivachandra Prasad Kushwaha \|28,415 \|1st \|{{yes2\|Won}} \|

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! rowspan="2" |Office

! rowspan="2" |Electorate

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Party

! rowspan="2" |Main opponent

! colspan="2" |Votes for Yadav

! rowspan="2" |Result

! rowspan="2" |Notes

Total

!{{abbr|2=Position|P}}.

1991